Tuesday, March 31, 2015, 3:54 p.m.

Israel-Hamas truce sets stage for talks on Gaza

By The Associated Press

This article was published August 5, 2014 at 9:16 a.m.

PHOTO BY AP/LEFTERIS PITARAKIS

Palestinian Fadi Ehajela, 20, sits on the rubble of what used to be his family's supermarket on the ground floor of the Nada Towers at a residential neighborhood in the town of Beit Lahiya, northern Gaza Strip, on Tuesday, Aug. 5, 2014. The supermarket which staffed ten people and his nearby family home were destroyed in an Israeli strike, according to Ehajela. The family have now found refuge in a U.N. school as thousands of other Palestinians.

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — Israel and Hamas began observing a temporary cease-fire Tuesday that sets the stage for talks in Egypt on a broader deal on the Gaza Strip, including a sustainable truce and the rebuilding of the battered, blockaded coastal territory.

Israel withdrew its ground forces from Gaza's border areas, and both sides halted cross-border attacks as the three-day truce took effect at midnight. The shelling stopped and in Gaza City, where streets had been deserted during the war, traffic picked up and shops started opening doors.

If the calm holds, it would be the longest lull in almost a month of fighting that has killed nearly 1,900 Palestinians and 67 Israelis.

In coming days, Egyptian mediators plan to shuttle between Israeli and Palestinian delegations in Cairo to try to work out new arrangements for Gaza.